Wheel structure



April 3, 1928. l 1,664,765

C. 5. ASH

WHEEL STRUCTURE Filed Aug. 59. 1923' 2 Sheets-Sheet l.

IIII

Patentedpr. 3, 1928. n

UNITED STATES CHARLES SJASH, 0F ROYAL OAK, MICHIGAN.Y

WHEEL STRUCTURE.

Application led August 80,1923. Serial No. 660,079.

The common practice has been to con'- struct wheel runs for motorvehicles, with detachable side flanges or rims and the like so thattires having inextensible beads may be readily removed from the rims,and rims have also been made with integral side anges, but in order todemount a tire from such a rim, it is necessary to stretch the beads.The present tendency seems to be to- War'd tires of large crosssectional area as compared with wheel diameter, or what has been termedballoon tires, and` the construction and arrangement of rims embodyingthe present invention is particularly adaptable for use in connectionwith such tires and with wheels of the disk type whereby a lighter,cheaper and more durable construction is secured, and whereby facilityin demounting the tires from the rims, accessibility of tire valves, andsimplicity of construction with elimination of all joints or looseparts, is secured.

As commonly arranged, the valve stem of the inner tire tube extendsradially inward through an opening in the inner wall of the rim, and indisk wheel constructions, this stem often projects through the rim atthe inner side of the wheel disk, due to the curvature of the disk, thusnecessitating an angle stem and an opening therefor in the disk in orderthat easy access may be had to the stem. An object of the presentinvention is to obviate the necessity for angle stems by the employmentof a form of rim which not only provides for quick demounting of thetire without the necessity for detachable holding means, -but alsoprovides for a convenient arrangement of straight valve stem regardlessof the configuration of the wheel disk or the manner in which the rim iscarried thereby. v Y

A further object of the present invention is to combine a rim structurehaving no detachable parts or joints, with a disk portion so as tosecure a maximum of strength with a' minimum of 4weight and simplicityand v cheapness of construction, and further, to

provide a wheel construction particularly adaptable for four-Wheelbrakes with the wheels demountable and interchangeable,

It is also an object of the present invention to further reduce the costof manufacture and weight of Wheel structures by utilizing the brakedrum as a disk or web part of the wheel, the rim being connected to,carried by and demountable from 'the drum,

the drum thus taking the loady and driving and torsional strains, makingthe structure particularly adaptable to four-wheel brake constructions.

It is also an object to provide a rim construction for disk wheels whichlends itself particularly to the formation of rim and disk portions as aunitary structure with a rim portion an integral part of the diskportion, to give strength and simplicity to the structure and reduceweight and manufacturing costs, and also to make the structureparticularly applicable to a brake drum when the drum is employed as adisk portion, whereby the demountable structure may be applied to drumsof either the front or rear wheels of a four-wheel brake structure.

The use of tires of large cross-sectional area necessitates a reductionin rim diameter to give the desired over-all wheel diameter, and "1n thepresent invention, where it. is proposed to utilize the brake drum as adisk portion, the rim may be demountably connected directly to the drumor attached thereto by means of an annular rim fiange or other meansextending inwardly to meet the drum, such mounting being permissible inview of the fact that a tire of large cross section is mainly reliedupon for resiliency to absorb road shocks and jars, the object of suchconstructions being to simplify present 'demountable wheel structuresand provide a demountable tire carrying part which is light in weight ascompared with the present disk or spoke wheels demountable from the hub,and is of simple construction, strong and durable and may be quickly andeasily mounted or demounted.

It is also an object, to provide a construe; tion, arrangement andcombination of elements whereby certain other new and useful featuresare secured, all as hereinafter more fully described.

With the above and other ends in View, the invent-ion consists in thematters herein@ after set forth and more particularly pointed out in theappended claims, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, inwhich Figure 1 is a transverse vertical sectionv through the upper halfof the wheel and hub structure illustrative of an embodiment of featuresof the invention and showing the same as a plied to a front or steeringWheel of ay vehic e;

Fig. '2 is a similar view showing a slightly Fig. 3 is a transversevertical section through the upper half of a wheel and its h ubstructure and illustratin further modilications in which the brake rumand wheel disk are attached to the same hub flange with thediskdemountable therefrom and su ported by the'drum';

1g. 4 is a view similar to Fig.13 andl illus` trative of a modifiedform;

Figs. 5, 6, 7 and 8 are sectional details illustrative of various formsof rimv and disk-portion formations. g

.In all motor vehicle constructions which include brake mechanism forthe fourwheels o f the vehicle, a brake drum-is a necessary element ofeach Wheel, and the present invention. contemplates the vutilization ofthis drum .as a connecting, or web portion between the hub and rim, thedrum wall then taking the load and driving strains as well as thebraking strains. Such embodimentis shown in Fig. 1 of the'drawings, inwhichembodiment, 1 indicates a stub orfpivoted axle shaft upon which thewheel hub 2'is mounted with ball bearings 3 interposed between the huband the stub shaft. A single annular flange 4 is provided on the hub,and to this flange isusecured `in any suitable manner, the radial or outwardly extending wall 5 of the brake drum 6, said wall being preferablydished or inclined to a Vertical plane to give the wheel the desiredappearance and strength, and

bring said` wall within the Vertical load-- plane of the wheel, so thatit may serve as a disk 'or web portion for the wheel and pro- Vide aproper support or place of attachment for an -inwardly extending annularflange 7 on the wheel rim 8. This vflange is preferably curved laterallyor dished to complete the dished appearance of the disk or web portionof the wheel and to lend resiliency thereto. The flange isA shown assecured to the drum wall by bolts 9, but any suitable fastening meansmay be employed, preferably means which will permit of the demounting ofthe rim from the flange of the drum. As the four-wheels of the vehiclewill preferably be provided with drums of the same diameter, the rimswill be inter`-- changeable and particularly where tires 10` of largecross-sectional area as compared to their diameter are employed, theflange will be comparativelyV narrow, thus providing a demountablestruct-ure which -is lvery light in weight and easy to handle. Thls,construction provides a demountable structure of minimum weight with amaximum of strength and simplicity' of construction, great-ly reducingthe cost of manufacture and roviding a wheel structure in which the rumperforms the double function of brake drum andi disk portion, takin-gthe load, driving and lateral strains, as well as braking strains. Drumsare necessarily of sufficient strength to withstand these added strainsand therefore may well be utilized as a disk portion, particularlyin'four-wheel b rakev constructions and where balloon tires are used, assuch tires are mainly re lied .upon Ato give Wheel resiliency, and theparticular combination provides a wheel having all of the necessaryqualities of a demountablemdisk wheel as commonly constructed, with theadded advantages above set forth.

The construction of rim which is indicated as a` Whole by the numeral 8and. shown 1n Fig. 1, is particularly adapted for use 1n connection withballoontires 'and disk wheel structures, this rim bemg formed with acentral annular depression or chan-v nel 11 and al seat 12 at each sideof' this channel, for the inexpansible beads 13 along the edges of thetire casing 10, said beads being retained in their seats by side flanges14 formed integral with the wall which forms the seat 12. This rimtherefore is devoid of loose or detachable tire retaining or vothermembers, and in order to demount the tire which 1s of comparativelylarge cross sectional area and has a thm casmg Wall, is first completelydeflated so thatA the beads 13 vmay bepressed inwardly into the channelv11 of the rim, when the tire may then be laced eccentric to the rimwith the beads within the channel at one side of the rim, and the beadsat the otherside of the rim free from the rim so that they may be forcedlaterally over the rim flanges 14 and the .tire thus quickly and easilyremoved without the necessity for providing detach-y able side holdingrings or other means commonly provided for holding straight side tirecasingsfin place. The rim is therefore a unitary str ucture devoid ofloose or detachable parts-and is light in weight and cheapto-manufacture.

A further advantage of this rim construction is that one wall or side ofthe rim,'as shown in Fig, 1, may be formed integral with the flange 7which forms a disk portion of the wheel, the rim flange 14, seat 12,inclined Wall 15 of one side of the channel 11, and the flange 7 beingall formed from a single sheet of metal, thus greatly reducing the costof manufacture and providinga very strong structure of minimum weight.The opposite wall of the rim .is

` also formed from a singleA sheet metal blank with the rim flange 14,seat 12, inclined wall 15 and bottom wall of the channel 11, all

formed in a single operation, and the ring thus provided, being thensecured to the opposite formed part by engaging the bottom p wall 16 ofthe channel over the horizontally formed portion 17 of the opposed partand securing these walls 16 and 17 together by welding, or in any othersuitable manner. A unitaijr structure comprising a complete rim andintegral disk portion'may thus. be expeditiously formed and will be ofmm1- mum weight with a maximum of strength.

'Rims as ordinarily constructed are' provided with an opening in thebottom wall thereof to receive the valve stem of the 1nllatable innertube of the tire but as these stems extend radially inward, where thedisk portion of the wheel is dished inwardly, this stem extends inwardat the inner side of the disk where it is inaccessible. To overcome thisdifficulty, it has been the common practice to provide an angle valvestem and to form the disk portion with an opening for the angularlyextending' end of the stem so that the out-er end of the stem willextend through to the outer side of the disk. Where angle valve stemsare used, it is necessary to use precaution in mounting the tire so thatthe stem will extend laterally in a direction to roject through theopening in the disk, and) a tire having a straight valve stem is mucheasier to mount upon its rim, than one provided with an angular stem.

A feature of the present invention is the providing of a rim having thecentral channel 11, which channel provides inwardly extending side walls15 beyond the seats for the casing beads and therefore by providing anopening in one of these walls 15, the valve stem which is indicated as awhole at 18, may be extended through this opening, thus bringing thestem outside of the disk portion of the wheel and a straight valve stemmay be used. As the wall 15 is inclined to the central load plane of thewheel, the valve stem when secured in place in an opening in this wallwill assume an inwardly inclined position relative to the axis of thewheel and will project outwardly from the rim and beneath or within theyplane of the seat and flange portions of the rim where it is readilyaccessible.

By combining, as shown in Fig. 1, a rim of the particular constructionshown, with a disk portion, in a disk wheel structure, a structure issecured which comprises a minimum number of parts, is of minimum weight,and the cost of manufacture is also reduced to the minimum, and further,the construction provides for the use of a straight valve stem in diskwheel structures.

In Fig. 2 of the drawings, a structure is shown embodying modificationsof the structure shown in Fig. 1, in that the flange 7 is formed from asingle metal blank, separate from the rim, with the outer outturned edgeportion of the flange welded, or otherwise secured to the bottom wall ofthe channel 11 of the rim, and this rim as shown in Fig. 2, is formedentirely from a single blank of metal, both side flanges 14, seats 12,walls 15 and bottom wall 1610i' the channelNbeing inl tegral.

A further modification consists in the means for securing the flange 7to the drum 6, the wall 5 of the drum being formed with an opening toreceive a screwthreaded4 bolt 19 wlth a depression or concavity aroundthe opening, and a corresponding conical projection 20 around the boltopening in the flange, the head of the bolt being formed conical at itsunderside to engage the conical depression in the flange so that whenthe flange is secured in place by the bolt 19, the conical projection 20on the flange fits into the depression on the drum' vwall and is firmlyclamped therein by the. conical head of the bolt, so that the bolt willbe relieved of driving strains which would otherwise tend to shear thelbolt, and these strains are taken by the projections 20 on the flangeengaging the depression in the drum wall.

In Fig. 2, the wheel structure is shown as applied to a rear or drivingwheel of a vehicle, the hub 21 being keyed to the end of a live ordriving axle 22, and the drum being secured to a flange 23 on the hub bymeans of bolts 24 passing through this flange and engaging screwthreadedopenings in the wall 5 of the drum. By securing the drum wall directlyto the hub ange and inclining this wall, it crosses the vertical loadplane of the wheel and brings the load plane in the plane of theanti-friction bearing 25 which is interposed between the hub and the endof the axle casing 26. v

In Figs. 3 and 4 the same rim formation is employed as in theconstruction shown in Fig. 2, but in Fig. 4 the disk portion instead ofbeing secured to the brake drum is extended to the hub and detachablvsecured to the hub flange for demounting from the hub in the usualmanner. In Fig. 3, the live or driving avle 34 is supported by thebearing 32 within the dead axle or casing 33 with its outer tapered endportion projecting beyond the end of the casing, and the wheel proper ismounted upon this outwardly projecting end by means of a castingproviding a sleeve portion 27 to kfit the axle end and' an outwardlyextending flange or drum part 28 to which the wall 5 of the drum properis secured by a' shouldered and screwthreaded stud 29 with the disk orweb portion 30 of the wheel lying flat against and supported by the saidwall 5. A nut on the outer end of said stud has a conically recessed endto receive a conical formation 31 around the opening in the disk portionto securely and detachably clamp the disk in place, it being understoodthat a. plurality of such studs and nuts, not shown, are provided atspaced intervals along the Harige. As the member 27 is secured to theend of the live axle independent of the bearing 32 and end of fixed axle33, and as the drum wall 5 is secured to strains.

- the flange 28 of this member, said flange is in efl'ect a continuationof said wall, and asv the disk portion is also demountably secured tosaid flange, said flange becomes 1n effect a web or disk Aportion ofthe' wheel,

casing 33 and the live axle or drivefshaf't 34.v

In this Fig. 3 is illustrated the application ot' the con'lbinedrimstructure and disk por-.

tion to a wheel structure in which the disk is demountable from the drumadjacent the hub, and in Fig. 4 a modification of such application isshown and wherein the disk p01'- tion `30 is detachably secured to ahub'flange and is unsupported bythe drum which isl .'inounted in theusual manner upon the hub',

'the wall 5 of the drum being secured against the inner side of the hubflange by means of stud bolts 36 having nuts 37 to engage the diskportion-and detachably clamp the same to the hub flange.

Figs. 5, 6, 7 and 8 are sectional details of combined rimand diskportions, illustrating different methods of constructing the rim 8 andits flange or disk portion \7. InFig. 5,

the rim is formed completev from a single sheet metal blank and theflange 7 is secured t-hereto at its outer edge by extending the flangeoutwardly in contact with the outer surface of one wall 15 of the rim;and in Fig. 6 the same construction of rim and disk portion is shown asthat disclosed in Fig. 1, with the exception that the walls 16 and 17are shown as `secured together by rivets. In Fig. 7, one side of the rimcomprising the flange 14, seat 12 and channel wall 15, are formedintegral with the disk portion 7, and the bottom Wall 17 of the runchannel is flanged downwardly as at 38 and secured by rivets 39 to theflange Wa117. In Fig. 8, the rim comprises t-Wo separately formed partsof like cross section, each part being formed to provide a-rim flange14,' a seat 12, a side wgll 15 for the channel 11, and one-half of thebottom wall of said channel, each part being flanged downwardly as at 40to provide meeting flanges at the longitudinal central plane of thechannel, said flanges extending inwardly to provide a place ofatltachment for the disk portion 7 which has an edge flange 41 engagingthe side of the flanges 4() and secured theretgin any suit-v able manneras by rivets 42.

In the several modifications are shown practical applications of thefeaturesof the present invention to different types of wheels and hubstructures, but it is obvious that other structural forms may bemodlfied to apply the present invention thereto,

and such applicationis contemplated as falling within the scope of theappended claims.

Having thus fully described my invention,

of said disk being offset laterally to provide a seat for a tire beadand then extended radially outward to provide a tire retaining 'ange,and an annular rim member providing a seat for a tire bead and a tirerretaining flange at the side of the disk oppo site the integral rimportion thereof, said rim member having an annular portion to engage thelaterally o ffset portion of the integral rim portion and securedthereto.

3. A disk Wheel vstructure comprising a\ disk portion provided with anintegral annular' rnn portion formed by offsetting the -metal at theouter portion of the disk t0 provide an annular Wall parallel with thewheel axis and forming the bottom of a ri channel 'in the central loadplane of the wheel, extending said wall outwardly .to

form one side of said channel, extending the wall from the channel'sidelaterally to provide a seat for a tire bead andforming the edge lortionof the metal yinto an outwardly exten ing tire retai-ning flange; and anannular rim member formed to provide a tire retaining flange and tirebead seat adjacent said flange with an inwardly extending portionforming a side wall` of said channel and a portion parallel with, theaxis of the wheel to enga e the bottom wall of the channel formed y thedisk and secured thereto.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

' CHARLES S. ASI-I.

